This Thursday, Chinese communities all over the world will celebrate the advent of the year of the rat. Chinese New Year, with its lantern parades, exchange of red envelopes and traditional greetings, has been celebrated on the British mainland since the UK's first Chinatowns were founded in the early years of the 20th century.

This year's festivities coincide with Gordon Brown's announcement of new trade partnerships between China and the UK. The prime minister hopes to secure tens of thousands of new British jobs through Chinese investment: his recent visit to Beijing as part of a UK-China business summit seems to signal a new era of cooperation between the two countries.

But should the international community be addressing China's record on human rights before rushing to reap the benefits of the open market? Just last week, Chinese state security forces arrested a leading civil rights activist, Hu Jia, in an apparent crackdown on dissent ahead of this year's Olympics. A lesson on Chinese culture and history gives students an opportunity to learn about the role of China in the world economy, as well as a chance to find out more about a fascinating culture.

As part of a wider study of Chinese culture, ask pairs of students to research aspects of ancient Chinese tradition and to report back to the rest of the class (www.historyforkids.org/learn/china).

During 2008, we're likely to see more dragon parades than ever, as the Beijing Olympics open in August. Find out more about how the Chinese are preparing for the Olympics at http://en.beijing2008.cn. Catch up on the preparations for the Games (www.theguardian.com/china/story/0,,2144249,00.html), before asking students to read interviews conducted with a range of people whose lives will be affected (www.theguardian.com/china/g2/0,,1346339,00.html). Ask students to choose one of these individuals and to write a monologue that might reflect their thoughts and feelings on the day that the Beijing Olympics comes to a close.

In the history classroom, ask groups of students to explore an element of Anglo-Chinese history (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Chinese_relations) and to report their findings to the rest of the group. They could then design a wallchart that represents key events in the relationship between the two countries.